Thursday, August 28, 2008

I really don't like the NYS Fair, I know this, but for some reason I seem to "forget" this fact from year to year. My sister-in-law, niece, my kids & I all spent the day at the fair today.

We park. I'm not annoyed that I have to take a shuttle bus to the gate, really I'm not. It doesn't warm my heart, but I'm not annoyed. We enter the gate. I'm even somewhat cheerful at this point. I have brought my camera and think to myself, perhaps, just perhaps, this will be fun.

We walk on. I try to conceal my disgust as I look at the cows. Geez, they're freakin' huge! And oh yes, they stink. Oh yes, thank goodness I had the sense to wear sneakers for once in my life instead of some inappropriate yet completely stylish sandal. The thought of my bare foot in a sandal next to whatever is on the ground makes me cringe. Score one for me! Ok, breathing fresh air now, away from the cows.

We walk on. Oh the chickens! Makes me wish I didn't have chicken last night for dinner. At least they are in cages and don't completely stink.

We walk on. Sister-in-law insists we share a Belgian waffle in the Dairy Building. Waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for all. They're pretty good and it happily erased all the stench that I feel followed us from seeing the cows.

We walk on. Kids are adamant about the rides. They must ride now! Fine. To the rides we go. Tilt a Whirl, Swings, Scrambler, Himalayan, etc. etc. etc. This is getting old really fast. After 2 hours and 50 minutes of pure amusement riding, we are finally able to extract these 3 children from the area. By the grace of God, I tell you! If it weren't for that bag of kettle corn, fresh squeezed lemonade and funnel cake that sister-in-law and I downed, this 2 hours and 50 minutes could have been more torturous. This is where I realize my breaking point has officially begun. I hate the fair and I need a shower.

We walk on. Kids are hungry. Let's eat. Dear niece, fussiest child in the world, wants what? Oh yes, Little Caesar's pizza. Here we are, at the fair, home of foods the world (state?) around and she wants Little Caesars. Fine. Sister-in-law & I, along with my kids, down some cheesy bread with her. Then we moved on to the mother load of homemade potato chips smothered with cheese and bacon. Oh yeah! Ignore all thoughts of health, we're on a bender here people! Followed by burgers and hot dogs, we're feeling fine.

We walk on. Pig building next. Oh wow! This smell might far outweigh the cow building. Is this possible? Ugh, right after we ate lunch too! Trying hard not to think of the bacon on those golden homemade potato chips. Trying hard not to figure out if I can physically see the shape of a pork chop anywhere on the pigs anatomy. Gasping, gasping, gasping for fresh air....aaahh, finally. Really needing a shower now.

We walk on. Of couse, we now visit a myriad of marketable goods. What child can resist the temptation of crap for sale? They each pick assorted items...baseball hats, Webkinz cards, Beanie Babies...and I'm free. I got off fairly easy this time considering what a disaster this could have been.

We walk on. Sister-in-law says it's time for ice cream. We have to find the Dairy Building again. Perry's Ice Cream. Olivia wants Birthday Bash, Johnny wants Peanut Butter Cup, and a delicious Southern Apple Pie for me. Mmmm. Here is when it really goes downhill for me. I realize that I cannot move from the amount of food I have consumed at the fair. I'm cranky & miserable and now we have to go through all the increasing crowds of people to get out. Ugh!

We walk on. We find the gate. It's not like we can just walk to the car now. No, we have to get on the @#%*& shuttle bus first to be taken to the car. Thankfully, it was a quick process.

So, I think my dislike of the fair got the better of me because I didn't take one picture. Not one. In the car, safely on our way back home, I declared that I really hate the fair and am not going ever again. Let this be a note to self. And please, dear friends, remind me of this next year should I have any thoughts of going.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

We took a little trip to Rochester Monday & Tuesday. We brought the kids to the Strong Museum. What a completely wonderful museum! We hadn't been there in a few years and we thought it was fantastic at that time. Who would have thought they could improve it? But they did. It just has so much to offer. Johnny who is a notorious "toucher" was thrilled. He went through & touched everything, leaving no stone unturned. Even Olivia (who at 10 is maybe getting a little old for a children's museum) enjoyed it. On Tuesday's trip home we stopped at the outlets in Waterloo for some back to school shopping. (still not finished on that front though...it's a neverending, grueling process!)

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Not much going on here. It's a little hot and humid today, I really hate it when it's humid. Geez, my blog posts are becoming so boring lately!My niece is playing nicely with my kiddos, they're all occupied, there's a big Scooby Doo fest on Cartoon Network. Let's see how long that can hold their attention. Dh is getting ready for work, which leaves me ready for some scrapping time! I scrapped for awhile last night and I'm really enjoying it again. See?I really need to get some photos downloaded and prints ordered for future scrapping. I better get to that now! Have a good week! This is my last full week of summer vacation and it's action packed.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

I don't know where I've been lately, I guess trying to cram so much into whatever bit of summer vacation we have left. We took the kids to The Enchanted Forest Water Safari on Tuesday. It was a little chilly but the water rides are heated so they could care less if they had to shiver when they came out of the water! They really had a fun time.

Monday, August 11, 2008

It has been raining here all day. I am so sick of rain, thunderstorms, showers, light drizzle, golf ball sized hail...I could go on and on! This weather really sucks and if that's not bad enough, if you do get a day where it doesn't rain, it's cloudy and threatens to rain! You just can't win. So why is this rain in my way you say? (Are you getting ready for the earth-shattering reason?) Because I need to go to the grocery store! There, I said it! I hate nothing more than having to go to the grocery store when it's raining. I can tolerate it in the snow, but the rain is a whole different story for me. Pushing the cart through the parking lot, getting my feet wet(I hate when my feet are wet), loading the trunk, unloading the trunk at home, all this while getting soaked makes for one miserable girl. Yesterday, I sat down with all my recipe clippings. You know, the ones I've ripped from magazines and stock piled because I'm sure I'm going to make them "one day". (emphasis on the "one day") I decided with just a few weeks of summer vacation left and the weather less than desirable lately, "one day" has finally arrived. I'm going to cook and bake and bake and cook. I am armed with my lengthy list for the store but I will not trudge my way through the rain! I've got a mission here and the rain is in my way! Well, maybe I'm being unreasonable. I don't know. Maybe it's just the darn rain that's ruining my spirit. Ugh! Bright sunny skies to all of you!

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Did you watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics last night? Wow! I mean, WOW! Some years I find that I'm more into the Olympics than other years, but last night's ceremonies were amazing! Truly amazing! I admit to being quite mesmerized by much of it. Even Bob Costas remarked about having to retire the award for opening ceremonies because nothing could top this. These are some of my favorite images so enjoy!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Well friends I am home alone today! My kiddos are at my brother & sister-in-law's house playing with my niece. John is playing in a golf tournament. This leaves me unattended to. My first thought was to run wild and shop 'til I dropped. However, being that I had a fun money-spending day on Friday, I figured I had better ignore the urge to shop today. On Friday, we drove out to Albany to The Pottery Place. It was the first time my kids experienced this (me too) and they absolutely LOVED it! I can't wait to see the finished pieces.Anyway, (I know I've gone off topic) in lieu of shopping, I decided to stay home and do nothing! That's a novel idea if I've ever heard one. I've been scrapping my little heart out for most of the morning/early afternoon. As I type this, it's pouring rain outside. What is up with the weather anyway? It rains every day! (again, off topic) I have decided to continue this "Day of Nothing Fest" and move right onto the couch for some movie watching. (The rain has brought on this turn of events, so I guess my musing on the weather weren't completely off topic) Haven't decided what I'm going to watch yet,, but I hope you are having a happy, lazy, "Day of nothing fest " too. TTFN!